1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to equipment used in the monitoring of human body fat and, in particular, to a wearable body-fat sensor using impedance pulses to obtain the body-fat level by contact with the surface of a wearer""s skin.
2. Description of the Related Art
Increased amounts of fat in the human body have been associated with increased risks of serious medical complications, including cardiovascular problems, diabetes, and other adult diseases. In consideration of health risks from obesity a number of instruments are commercially available to estimate the composition of body fat. Most prior art devices have disadvantages in that the person has to input other parameters, such as weight, height, age, and sex, through an input interface during each reading. Further, they give inconvenience to the users who are not familiar with the operation of the measuring devices.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an improved body-fat sensor that is easy to use and that estimates the body-fat composition by allowing the sensor to be conveniently attached to the inner surface of a wearable garment, such as a shirt, shoes or socks.
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting a body fat composition that may be implemented in hardware, in software, or in a combination of hardware and software as desired for a particular application, such that the detection can be realized in a simple, efficient, and reliable implementation.
According to one aspect of the invention, an apparatus for detecting the body-fat composition of a person includes a wearable body structure, of flexible material, having an inner surface; a flexible electrical conductor affixed to the inner surface, the conductor having a first-end portion and a second-end portion; an electronic circuit having at least one pair of electrodes electrically and mechanically affixed to the inner surface of the wearable body structure, the pairs of electrodes being electrically coupled to the first end of the electrical conductor and the second end of the electrical conductor; a weight sensor for measuring the weight of the person; and, the electronic circuit operative to determine the body-fat composition based on the impedance measured across the pairs of electrodes, the weight of the person, and a predetermined data, which includes height age, and sex of the person.
According to another aspect of the invention, an apparatus for detecting a body-fat composition of a person includes: a pair of shoes having a weight sensor; a wearable body structure, of flexible material, having an inner surface; a flexible electrical conductor affixed to the inner surface, the conductor having a first-end portion and a second-end portion; an impedance-measuring circuit having at least one pair of electrodes, the pairs of electrodes being electrically coupled to the first end of the electrical conductor and the second end of the electrical conductor; a memory for storing data, which includes height, age, and sex of the person; and, a controller for processing data received from the weight sensor, the impedance-measuring circuit, and the memory to determine the body-fat composition of the person.
According to the preferred embodiment of this invention, the electrical conductor is integrated into the flexible material of the body structure in the form of fibers of conductive material supported by fibers of substantially non-conductive material. In addition, the electrical conductor may be printed on the inner surface of the wearable body structure in the form of electrically-conductive coating material. The preferred apparatus further includes a display for displaying the body-fat composition of the person, a power source for providing an electrical flow between the pair of electrodes, and at least one pair of shoes containing the weight sensor. At least one pair of electrodes is provided in the shoes for contact with a right sole and a left sole in order to measure the impedance according to a voltage difference between the pair of electrodes. The electrodes may be also formed to contact a right palm and a left palm when the person wears the wearable body structure as well as a right ankle and a left ankle when the person wears the wearable body structure.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a method for measuring the body-fat composition of a person includes the steps of: (a) inputting height, sex, and age of the person to a controller; (b) standing on a pair of shoes having a weight-measuring sensor to measure the weight of the person and to contact a right sole and a left sole on a pair of electrodes; (c) providing an electrical path between the pairs of electrodes; (d) detecting a voltage difference between the pair of electrodes to measure an impedance by means of an impedance-measuring circuit; and, (e) calculating a body-fat percentage by means of the controller. The method further includes the step of wearing a garment structure having a flexible electrical conductor coupled to a second pair of electrodes at both ends thereof, thereby making contact with a right wrist and a left wrist on the second pair of electrodes and repeating steps (c) through (e).
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following, more detailed description of preferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the various views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, the emphasis instead is placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.